The present invention provides for an apparatus and method of providing temperature control to a fitting used in filling liquefied gas storage tanks. More particularly the present invention relates to the use of a temperature control device to the contact the bayonet fitting used during liquid hydrogen filling operations.
When hydrogen is delivered for storage in tanks, it is inputted into the tanks through a filling hose and nozzle. This nozzle or bayonet fitting will connect the delivery medium to the tank and allow for hydrogen to fill the tank. During this filling operation, the bayonet fitting will get cold. This is particularly true when high purity hydrogen is being inputted into the tank because of the long purge times required by that operation.
The result of this drop in temperature causes the materials of construction of the bayonet fitting to contract, there by causing looseness in the seals. This will cause the connection to leak which provides not only in loss of delivered product but also causes unsafe conditions. The typical treatment for warming the bayonet fitting is for the operators of the facility to pour warm water on the bayonet to control its temperature. While this would work to keep the bayonet fitting from leaking, the water that accumulates around the base of the storage tank would often freeze during colder weather creating unsafe conditions. This resulted in sporadic control of the temperature of the bayonet fitting and the subsequent loss of hydrogen being delivered.
The present inventor has discovered a means by which the temperature of the bayonet fitting can be controlled automatically and remotely to inhibit the loss of hydrogen product being delivered and improve safety around the delivery storage tanks.